• NIB@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I am not trying to defend american imperialism, i am trying to rank it on a curve. And the curve is wild but relatively to its past, the US is chilling atm. Maybe because of China, maybe because military recruitment has fallen off a cliff or maybe because it is less cool to do “stuff” anymore.

    20+ years ago, Yemen would have been invaded. Nowadays, noone wants to do that, they just dont want the Houthis to fuck with shipping. Thats why only the US and UK bombed the Houthis and even that was very limited, not the usual “shock and awe” kind of bombing.

    Even China has had enough of this bullshit

    https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-calls-red-sea-attacks-civilian-ships-end-2024-05-28/

    I am pretty sure Iran and Russia feel the same. Fucking with trade hurts everyone.

    • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      US military spending is at an all time high, higher than the next 10 countries combined. After ending decades long occupations of multiple countries on the other side of the world, military spending is still increasing. The US is starting to face enough blowback that it’s somewhat more limited in what it can get away with, but it’s still pretty bad.

      • NIB@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        US military spending is at an all time high, higher than the next 10 countries combined.

        Not true.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_highest_military_expenditures

        The difference is even smaller if you use PPP.

        In order to understand this better, imagine how much a chinese soldier is paid and how much an american one is. And then do the same for literally everything. How much a chinese ship builder is paid vs how much an american one. How much a chinese engineer is paid vs how much an american.

        In almost every category, the american worker will be A LOT more expensive. So a chinese ship that needs 100 people would be a lot cheaper than the american equivalent one. Obviously some of the cost doesnt differ, ie raw materials cost around the same in both countries. But wages and other factors make running a western military a lot more expensive than a chinese one.

        And thats how you ended up with China having 370 warships while the US has 280. Now this number is extremely misleading, since american ships are heavier and are mostly blue water navy(while a lot of the chinese ones are green water ones) but still.

          • NIB@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Or barely more than China+Russia, if you adjust for PPP(900 bil vs 700 bil).

              • NIB@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                It isnt a random london based think tank, PPP is a pretty standardized economic measure. It is one of the most used concepts in economics, especially when it comes to assessing wealth and quality of life. 100k in San Franscisco is basic wage, 100k in bumfuck South Carolina is “holy shit, you are rich”.

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity

                • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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                  5 months ago

                  The specific numbers come from a random think tank though. Notably, they only list different, substantially higher numbers for Russia and China, and not any other country. It’s not a reliable source.